“Curricular Pathways for Migrants’ Empowerment through Sport” (CPMES) focuses on employing the methodology of Education Through Sport (ETS) as a vehicle of upskilling and curricular enhancement of Sport operators working on the field with disadvantaged targets with migrant background in the perspective of fostering entrepreneurship in Sport by migrants.

The project pursues the specific Erasmus Plus Collaborative Partnership priorities related to encouraging social inclusion and equal opportunities in Sport.

CPMES aims at answering the challenge of social exclusion of migrants in Europe, with a particular focus on addressing the compelling issue of systematic underrepresentation of migrants in non-playing roles within Sport clubs and organizations in general terms.

EUROSTAT (2017) accounts in a total 20,7 million the number of non-EU nationals living in the EU 28 as of January 2016, accounting for a total 4,1% of the total EU population. The profile of third country nationals living in the EU is characterized by a relatively younger age as compared with the local population, with the most consistent category being represented by working-age adults.

The available statistical findings also indicate a recrudescence in migrants’ flows in coincidence with the still ongoing migration crisis as well as highlight the significant barriers to be overcome for what pertains to ensuring a meaningful integration of the newcomers within the labour market and at the societal level in wider terms.

EUROSTAT accounts depict a frame of consistent disparity between migrants and locals in access to employability opportunities, with the overall EU-28 unemployment rate being 8,6 percentage points higher for migrants than for nationals in 2016. Also, 30,3% of migrants in the EU-28 were assessed as being at risk of poverty and social exclusion against 16% of nationals.

OECD 2015 Report on Migrant Integration (2015) illustrates the structural nature of migrants’ labour market exclusion, indicating that the youth unemployment rate of native born-offspring of migrants is almost 50% higher than among youths with native-born parents, with migrant youngsters being also more likely to be NEETs than youths with no migrant background.

As displayed in the specific study “Racism and Discrimination in the Context of Migration in Europe” (2016) by the European Network Against Racism (ENAR), the dynamics of social exclusion against migrants are for a large share ushered in by practices of racist discrimination/stereotyping (also escalating in violent attacks), ineffectual integration policies and practices of discrimination in recruitment within the labour market.

In the specific field of Sport, the under-representation of migrants is particularly evident and challenging in their exclusion from positions of authority and from overall representation in non-playing positions (see Inclusion of Migrants in and through Sports. A Guide to Good Practice, 2012).

EU policy documents underline the relevance of Sport as an agent of social inclusion for migrant targets, while at the same time stressing the relevance of Sport as an agent of entrepreneurial engagement (Entrepreneurship in Sport).

The EU “White Paper on Sport” (2007) underscore that “Sport makes an important contribution to economic and social cohesion and more integrated societies” while also providing an important contribution to facilitating “the integration into society of migrants and persons of foreign origin”.

The EC’s ”Communication on Developing the European Dimension in Sport” (2011) highlights the substantial contribution of Sport “to growth and jobs, with value added and employment effects exceeding average growth rates”.

The Report “Inclusion of Migrants in and through Sports. A Guide to Good Practices” also underscores the attractiveness of migrant-led Sport initiatives (Migrant Sport Clubs) as realities wherein migrants find more facilitated to engage due to the absence of cultural and linguistic barriers.

A key intermediate step in effecting a greater engagement of migrants in the field of Sport entrepreneurship is the development of the necessary methodological capacities for the vast audience of operators (Sport Coaches and Trainers) working with the ultimate migrant targets through Sport methods in order for them to be able to convey the varied set of entrepreneurial attitudes, skills and instruments composing the profile of a Sport Entrepreneur.

ETS is a meaningful combination between Sport and Non Forma Education (NFE) methods extrapolating and adapting both physical and specific Sport exercises in order to provide a strong lifelong learning outcome, tailored to the needs of society and to the specific educational objectives pursued.

The activities implemented within CPMES are the following:

1- Cross-country research aimed at the identification of existing entrepreneurial upskilling needs of migrants in the field of Sport. The results of the research will be integrated in a Report on Migrants’ Sport Upskilling Needs.

2- Cross-country research for the identification of the existing landscape of professional profiles of ETS educators working in the field of developing entrepreneurial competences in Sport. The results of the research will be integrated in a Report on ETS Profiles, including a pondered assessment over the potential integration, improvements and modification to the skills, knowledge and methods in light of the peculiarities and needs of the migrant target (as identified in 1).

3- The elaboration of a discrete Training Format for Sport Entrepreneurial Educators targeted at operators interested in entrepreneurial education in Sport of migrants through ETS. The Format will be tested in the frame of a Pilot TC involving 5 Sport operators working with migrants per partner organization. The methodologies and results of the Training will form part of an “Handbook for the Development of ETS Educational Profiles” serving as a methodological resources for NGOs, operators and stakeholder entities interested in the development of said profiles.

4- The implementation of a phase of Local Activities at the level of each own partner country wherein the operators trained in the TC will implement entrepreneurial empowerment programmes based on ETS with an audience of 20 locally-hosted migrants. Partner organizations will synthesize the methods, activities and results of the process into a digital self-learning path for migrants interested in acquiring Sport entrepreneurship skills, which will be produced in multiple languages (English plus all partners’ languages) and integrated on project Web Platform as an OER.

5- The establishment of an open-access project Web Platform integrating shortcuts to the educational contents produced (Handbook for the Development of ETS Educational Profiles). The Web Platform will also integrate a multilingual self-learning path for migrants interested in the development of entrepreneurial skills in Sport.

“WinterSport is Coming” (WSC) promotes social inclusion and the sense of European citizenship, fostering rejection of stereotyps and intercultural dialogue through enhancing youth participation in Winter Sports as well as developing a culture conducive to the educational use of Winter Sports among Sport operators engaged in the field.

The project is a cooperative endeavour among 4 NGOs from Slovakia, Italy, Bulgaria and Croatia representing countries faced by issues of youth inclusion, compounded by the challenge of managing diversity.

As remarked by the European Union’s White Paper on Sport “Sport is a growing social and economic phenomenon which makes an important contribution to the European Union’s strategic objectives of solidarity and prosperity”. The educational benefits of Sport for individuals in general and young people in the specific represent a priority of the European Union since the White Paper, wherein Sport is recognized as enhancing the acquisition of knowledge, motivation and skills useful at all levels of personal and professional life. The impact of Sport on individual social inclusion is specifically relevant for the challenges faced by today’s youth in that, as highlighted by the White Paper, “Sport also provides attractive possibilities for young people’s engagement and involvement in society and may have a beneficial effect in helping people steer away from delinquency”. In the intercultural dimension, Sport provides a vehicle for achieving a meaningful social integration of disadvantaged/underrepresented group as well as for laying the grounds of a positive interaction between local and migrant components at the level of civil society.

The above key dimensions of Sport are recalled and followed-up to in the European Commission’s “Developing the European Dimension in Sport” Communication of October 2011.

Winter Sport represents a substantial, sizeable subset of European leisure tradition as well as of current Sport practice at amateur and professional levels.

According to the Report “The Future of Winter Traveling in the Alps” released by Future Mountain International In 2017, Europe can presently count on a total 48.2 million active skiers.

Winter Sports also gather a considerable attention among the European public at large, as confirmed by the “Winter Sport Report” released in 2017 by the International Ski Federation (FIS). According to FIS data, Winter Sports achieved a total 8957 broadcasting hours 6338 million views in Europe between 2016 and 2017.

As the spearhead of a specific Olympic tradition initiated in 1924 and presently arrived at its XXII edition with the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games, Winter Sports partake in positive Olympic values and traditions.

In light of the above, Winter Sports promoting and spreading engagement in Winter Sports among young people would contribute to enhancing participation in a crucial sector of Sport engagement as well as, at the same time, enhance the educational dimension of the latter for the needs of young people in Europe.

In the context of a preparatory analysis for the development of the project, partner organizations noted a lack of European initiatives focusing specifically on Winter Sports as a means of promoting social inclusion of young people alongside intercultural dialogue and sense of belonging to a common European identity.

The present project initiative was conceived as a cooperation between the realms of NGO, Sport organizations and Sport practice for the purposes of exploring and releasing the educational potential of Winter Sports in the realm of youth in synergy with the principles and approaches of non formal learning.

The project foresees the implementation of a Winter Sports programme (1 per partner country) involving young people (10 per country- 5 locals and 5 migrants) co-designed in cooperation between Non Formal Education Trainers and Winter Sport practitioners.

WSC will explore the educational relevance and use of Winter Sports across the following dimensions:

– Personal Development: Acquisition of knowledge, competences and skills (soft as well as transversal) supporting the personal development and fulfillment of the youth both in life and in society (employability, education, participation).

– Intercultural Dialogue: Fostering mutual knowledge, positive interaction and cooperation among young people from different backgrounds (locals and migrants) with a view to contrasting the roots of discrimination and racism phenomena.

Trainers and Athletes will cooperate as an organic work-group in the performance of a specific research on existing good practices, whose assessment and processing will provide the grounds for the creation of the learning programme.

Final outcome of the whole project will be a Guide in multiple languages illustrating the project as well as the methodologies employed/developed therein as a best practice providing a benchmark/model for NGOs, Sport organizations and Sport operators external to the Consortium and to the partner countries.

“Education through Sport Network” (ETSN) is a 12-month Small Collaborative Partnership Erasmus+ Project, involving 5 organizations from 5 different countries with the aim to reinforce an existing informal ETS network and to develop it into an open and transparent transnational community of organizations and experts, who actively use the Education through Sports methodology (ETS). “Education through Sport Network” is in line with several European youth policies in the field of sport.
1. ERASMUS+ Sport programme, which aims to develop the European dimension in sport and to increase cooperation between sport organisations, as ETSN will develop an official network between the partner organisations which will have long-term commitment. ETSN will also contribute to the recognition and validation of skills acquired through NFE, which is another of the milestones of ERASMUS+ Sport programme.
2. European Union Work Plan for Sport (2011-2014) which focuses on establishing sustainable networks between Sports Clubs and Organisations active in the field of sport on an European Level.
The White Paper on Sport – with which the Commission encourages employers, athletes and sports workers to shape labour relations through European social dialogue. There are social dialogue committees for professional football and for active leisure.
4. Europe 2020 Strategy and also EU Strategy on Youth 2010-2018 – which clearly have stated that there is a need of a sustainable impact on how learners develop different competences and use them, on how open they are to change and innovation. The “Education through Sport Network” and its uniqueness – using Education through Sport and Non-Formal Education as tools will significantly contribute to reach these and another one of the main objectives of the EU Youth Strategy for 2010-18, which is “to encourage young people to actively participate in society.”
After conducting an internal survey within the partner consortium identifying the needs of each organization, the coordinating organization reached to the conclusion that “Education through Sport Network” responds to the needs of the consortium members:
– To exchange good practices in the field of empowering youth through sports and thus, build up organisational capacities
– To acquire new Education through Sports tools and programs
– To build up a strong and long-term partnership network with international youth organisations.
The partner consortium of “Education through Sport Network” believes that the youth organisations are the key to tackle the above issues, and it is our main objective to provide opportunities for further education and opportunities for social engagement to all young people. We also believe in the power of sports to do so, because sport is a universal language, a cost-effective and flexible tool in promoting peace, personal and social development. The Partner Consortium is composed of youth organisations committed to empowering young people through sports activities and providing them with opportunities for positive social engagement and fruitful life. All partner organisations work with youngsters from the most deprived areas and from the most disadvantaged backgrounds within their countries.
The Partner Consortium consists of 4 organizations and 1 Sports Club, all of which are active in the field of sport and have in their priorities the ambition to grow, to develop the tools they work with, to improve the approaches to their target group, exploring the innovative methods for education. Moreover, all partners were selected by Champions Factory LTD, bearing in mind their geographical disposition, as they cover the borders of the EU on the South-East (Bulgaria), on the North-West (Ireland), including the South (Italy) and the West (United Kingdom), which ensures great coverage of the European Union.

The objective of ‘Blue Social Growth’ is to develop, organize and evaluate an experimental pedagogical plan for the training of the populations living in small islands to address their pressing issues- like the recent immigration and refugees crisis- through developing blue growth economy social enterprises. It will predominantly target the most needed populations like migrants and refugees, by supporting them to establish collaborative social enterprises. Using action learning and e-learning methodologies on co-creation and entrepreneurship skills it aims to stimulate the needed 21st century skills for the development of socially innovative and impactful, collaborative social enterprise ventures that result from the interaction among the sea and the earth.

In 2016 148,355 migrants and refugees entered Europe (9/3/16) the cumulative arrivals to Greece stands at 144,899. In 2015 1,046,599 migrants arrived to Europe; Greece received 858,608 of them (Mediterranean Update, IOM, 01/16). These populations enter in Europe though the sea and their first point of contact are small islands and coastal regions that are often among the weakest regions in Europe facing already isolation and risk of being deserted. “Coastal areas often face high unemployment… it is our responsibility to help this sector develop and prosper” (EC Strategy Press release, Commissioner Damanaki, 20/02/10). “Islands face considerable challenges…They may lack human capital and possess limited public resources in health, education, research and innovation… EU’s southern islands have seen a large influx of migrants, whilst lacking the resources needed for their accommodation or integration…various studies suggest that islands can become ‘lands of opportunities’ by investing in their relative strengths” (European Parliament Think Tank, Jan 2016). Article174 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union- TFEU recognises the special nature of island territories… Several insular regions and municipalities call for the development of an ‘insular dimension’ in EU policies. “The Union shall aim at reducing disparities between the levels of development of the various regions and the backwardness of the least favored regions. Among the regions concerned…attention shall be paid to…islands” ( EUR LEx, 2016).
“It is the maritime contribution to achieving the goals of the Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth.…The ‘blue’ economy represents roughly 5.4 million jobs” (EC, Maritime Affairs, Blue Growth, 2016). “There is a need of offshore activities supporting Blue Growth and employment… aim at boosting economic development, environmental services and entrepreneurial innovations – in particular in SMEs in rural and coastal areas.…aquaculture development aims at supporting and facilitating a sustainable economy…support aquaculture productions and communities with innovative solutions and technologies to ensure a sustainable offshore, coastal and inland development and growth”(Horizon 2020 WP Marine & Maritime, 2016-2017. “Coastal areas are important for growth and jobs, in particular for young people” (EC COM 2014, 86 Final). “European Commission recognises the potentials for development of the Coastal areas through both the Strategy for Blue Growth and the initiative for Maritime tourism… A powerful and intelligent maritime tourism will act as a catalyst for the economic recovery in Greece and throughout the European continent.” (EC Press Release, Damanaki Commissioner, 10/03/14).

‘Blue SoG’ focuses on two distinctive but interrelated issues:

a) The co-sharing and co-creation engaging marginalized – bottom of the pyramid- populations as value creation for survival and growth;

b) Learning; new approaches of action and e-learning should be developed, piloted and validated that will provide the skills needed for social innovation and social collaborative entrepreneurship in the Blue Growth Economy. Small islands due to geographic and transportation constraints need specific approaches to education and to establishing co-creation which has to be e-based.

The above actions will be achieved through:

1)A structured research identifying issues and needs of the target group as well as best cases examples of second generation migrants

2)Self-instruction, illustrated handbooks and textbooks on how ‘bottom of the pyramid’ populations can acquire these skills

“Migrant in Fashion” (MF) aims at developing entrepreneurial competences of female migrants in Europe within the Fashion sector through tested innovation in existing offer.

The methodological dimension of the project is based on the use of Digital Storytelling, Design Thinking and Mentoring as a combined, integrated approach of entrepreneurial development allowing the transition from intentions to action in the field of entrepreneurship.

Project target is composed of female migrants aged 18-35 affected by social exclusion. The targets encompasses first and second generation female immigrants.

MF is an approach grounded on transnational cooperation between VET providers, NGOs and Businesses across a geographical cluster of countries providing a balanced picture of the present challenge of migrants’ integration in Europe.

Eurostat quantifies in 164.300 the number of extra-EU nationals who sought asylum in the EU-28 during the third quarter of 2017, posing European countries before the challenge of hosting and integrating the newcomers.

Migrants in Europea countries face several barriers to integration, in societal, educational and employability terms. Newly arrived migrants, in particular, face complex challenges one of them being related to their “insufficient skills and experience (especially language barriers, low levels of education, or a lack of local work experience; difficulties navigating host-country labour markets…); and formal and informal obstacles to employment” (Policies to get immigrants into middle-skilled work in Europe, Migration Policy Institute, 2014).

The European Commission, in its “Entrepreneurship 2020 Action Plan” highlighted the added value migrant categories can provide to European sustainable growth as potential entrepreneurs, due to the barriers limiting their access to the formal labor market also pushing them towards self-employment. Nevertheless, as the Commission has also highlighted “..notwithstanding that migrants have higher business creation rates than the rest of the population they fail more due to a lack of information, knowledge and language skills”. In the EU 2020 Strategy the necessity of ensuring access to education and training to enshrines to disadvantaged targets (including migrants) and to integrate innovation and entrepreneurship at all levels in the educational field, also through promoting the acquisition of transversal key competences.

The female migrant population has to deal with additional challenges, encompassing cultural, language and gender disadvantag. They are therefore particularly in need of training targeted at work integration and entrepreneurship, as they are facing specific needs, challenges and constraints positioning them among the most fragile groups of our societies.

Fashion is a crucial component of national economies across the regions of North Africa and the Middle East, deeply rooted in local cultural peculiarities and traditional, small-scale modes of production and distribution. Building engagement and capacities of migrants in Fashion entrepreneurship will therefore not only contribute to overcome present barriers and skills mismatches but also lay the grounds for unleashing the added value of innovation inherent in the discovery of the market potential of culturally/traditionally rooted practices and products within the Fashion industry itself, also paving the way for enhancement of market relations between Europe and migrants’ home regions in terms of both trade volumes and quality.

MF will deploy the following activities in the 30 months of the cooperation:

– Identification and assessment of female migrants’ development needs in the Fashion sector and of existing offer of entreprenurial learning in the field.
– Development and piloting of a blended learning training existing female entrepreneurs from each partner country in Mentoring within entrepreneurial education programmes delivered for prospective female entrepreneurs at the country level. The programme will integrate the co-design of the educational contents of local workshops with the participants.
– Implementation of local workshops of entrepreneurial development in the cultural field targeted at prospective female migrants in the fashion sector. The programmes will be implemented in cooperation with local stakeholders in the business field through a combination of face-to-face learning, Mentoring and work-based learning.
– Production of a Guide for operators in the VET and stakeholder fields supporting the latter in the enactment of entrepreneurial support schemes targeted at female migrants in Fashion entrepreneurship.
– Web Platform integrating e-learning modules in multiple language for online educational support of the audience of prospective female migrant entrepreneurs in the Fashion field.